VA - The T.A.M.I. Show: Collector's Edition DVD

Legal issues or superstar egos have kept some holy grails of the classic rock era in endless limbo over the years (see Let It Be, or Cocksucker Blues). The release of The T.A.M.I. Show (an acronym for Teenage Awards Music International) after decades of only being available on bootleg is a monumental event, and, guaranteed, after watching it, you will believe in the power of music once again.

Here’s the context: it’s October 1964, only eight months after the Beatles’ first trip to America. Three months before, the U.S. signed the Civil Rights Act. It was in this period of cultural and historical upheaval that thousands of high school teens rammed the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for two days of screaming at a line-up that crossed key lines of race, sex, America/England, past/present. Twelve acts, including James Brown (in what he himself believed to be his greatest performance), The Rolling Stones (who foolishly followed Brown to close the set), Chuck Berry (who opened in a strange match-up with Gerry and the Pacemakers), Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, The Beach Boys (whose performance was removed after the initial run, leading to much of the legal headache over the years), and surprisingly smashing sets by The Barbarians and Lesley Gore all add up to one of the greatest package concerts there ever was. 

Anyone who has ever even liked one of these artists owes it to him/herself to check this one out, if only for the mind-boggling James Brown set. Or the quick glimpses of Jack Nitzsche leading the orchestra, or Teri Garr and Toni Basil as some of the irrepressible go-go dancers—seriously, the whiplash-inducing moves of the dancers is reason enough to grab this one. Combined with the exciting commentary and  collector’s edition package, this is truly foundational and mandatory viewing. Can I be any more clear about this?

JUNIOR MURVIN - Police and Thieves (Deluxe Edition)

This record is a bonafide reggae classic. Junior Murvin has a beautiful and bizarre falsetto singing voice, and it is backed here by some of Lee Perry's darkest and deepest production. Recorded towards the end of Perry's highly productive stint at the Black Ark, this album (alongside The Congos' Heart Of The Congos and Max Romeo's War Inna Babylon) stands as one of the high-water marks for vocal roots reggae. This Deluxe Edition is supplemented by several dubs and disco mixes, some of which are available on CD for the first time. Truly essential listening.

VA - Black Man's Cry: The Inspiration Of Fela Kuti

By now, Fela Kuti has taken his deserved place in the international canon of musicians whose impact can be felt far beyond borders of time and geography.  Compiled by Stones Throw GM Egon, this batch shows not only the impact his instantly-identifiable sound has had on the world but also documents the sounds of his contemporaries who, in turn, had their influence on him. Thus, tracks by compatriot Segun Bucknor and Ghana’s Jerry Hansen show that others in West Africa were headed in similar directions.

The popularity of Fela With Ginger Baker Live! in the Caribbean led to aggressive interpretations of “Black Man’s Cry” and “Egbe Mo O” included here. From there, we head to Colombia for a pair of takes on “Shakara”, retitled “Shacalao” for an Afro-Colombian percussion workout by Cumbia Moderna de Soledad, and a surprising turn for Lisandro Mesa as he tries it on himself.

Three modern cuts finish things off: one by deep funk revivalists The Daktaris, who tackle the classic “Upside Down", along with originals from the great Jan Weissenfeldt, who takes a swing as The Whitefield Brothers, as well as Karl Hector and The Malcouns, each showing the breadth and depth of fecundity that Fela’s blueprint has given the musical world.

SARAH WEBSTER FABIO - Boss Soul / Jujus: Alchemy Of The Blues, NIKKI GIOVANNI - The Reason I Like Chocolate, VA - Poets Read Their Contemporary Poetry

 This Smithsonian Folkways Archival series reissues (mostly black) American spoken word artists in pre- and proto-hip hop forms. These readings show the roots of hip hop in Black Nationalist and Afrocentric 1970s poetry, before Jamaican ex-pats in New York added the dub DJ element not to soon afterwards. With a strong recent return to form for MC forefather Gil Scott-Heron, this is as good a time as any to check out some other key influences on rap music.

Both Nikki Giovanni and Sarah Webster Fabio appeared on last year’s Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge of the Super Female Rappers set on Soul Jazz, which chronicled the rise and fall of women’s place in hip-hop. Boss Soul: 12 Poems By Sarah Webster Fabio Set To Drum Talk, Rhythms & Images (1972), summing up the key ingredients of hip hop in its title alone, is, along with Fabio’s Jujus: Alchemy Of The Blues (1976), a model prototype of righteous rap.

Nikki Giovanni’s The Reason I Like Chocolate (1976) features the funky peacock (peahen?) strut “Ego Tripping”, one of the revelations of Fly Girls!, while the rest is a set of short unaccompanied pieces that are begging to be sampled. Any takers?

Poets Read Their Contemporary Poetry is a live recording sponsored by the multi-ethnic Before Columbus Foundation. The performances are charged with a political/didactic edge, climaxing in a jaw-dropping reading by Amiri Baraka (see also our writeup of his '60s writings on jazz, Black Music, here) of his unflinching diatribe “Dope”, in which he conflates drug addiction (in this case, heroin) and the religious belief (and subservience) of Black America through the wild ravings and twisted rationality of a madman. You really must hear it.

VA - Nigeria Special Volume 2: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6

This is a follow-up to 2007’s two-disc collection that helped expand perceptions of Nigerian music beyond the familiar Fela-inspired Afrobeat revolution (for Fela fiends, seek out Soundway’s Nigeria Afrobeat Special, also out now, as well as Now Again's Black Man’s Cry: The Inspiration of Fela Kuti).

For those who understand that the seeming Nigerian overload of late should really be seen as the unveiling of the tip of the proverbial iceberg, this volume provides another chance to celebrate (and be sure to turn up the volume when you do!).

The always-fabulous Bola Johnson grabs the spotlight with a circular four-bar groove on “Jeka Dubu” that would make Gilberto Gil wilt. Meanwhile, throw on Fidel Sax Bateke’s polyrhythmic “Motako” for one of the trickiest intro drum breaks ever, or let Twins Seven bust out the metallophones and congas for a strangely dreamy call-and-response workout on “Totobiroko”. Note to Soundway, though: we wouldn’t say no to a Volume 3, nor would we refuse a feature compilation devoted to Bola Johnson.

VA - Next Stop...Soweto

The release of The Indestructible Beat of Soweto in 1987 was a watershed moment in the developing interest in so-called “world music”, feeding on the craze for South African music that followed Paul Simon’s epochal Graceland from the previous year. Listening to The Indestructible Beat more than 20 years later, what stands out is how much tastes for slick '80s production values combined with a target audience of baby boomers created a snapshot of an era while only hinting at the beauty of that country’s rich musical legacy.

Fast forward to the present time: the influence of African music is stronger than ever, this time nurtured by the international end of rare-groove hounds; DJs like Madlib and his brother Oh No; hippies, of course; and, perhaps most interestingly, the indie set. This time around, interest has been driven by nearly 10 years of a new approach to tracking global sounds that favours rawer vintage recordings over the sheen of the previous lens which has fallen out of favour with current tastes.

Most of the crate digging lately has been centred around Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, so Next Stop…Soweto (the first of three volumes!) is a highly welcome return to Johannesburg. Tracks are drawn from the late '60s to the mid-'70s, and relentlessly show off the joyful exuberance so easily recognizable from South African musicians: the rich timbres of their choral singing, rhythm guitars that take giant leaps up the neck (with the distinctively trebly tone favoured by Les Paul), occasional 8/8 beats that will make you bounce uncontrollably, and some of the most infectious horn lines you’re likely to hear all year. With any luck, Volume 3 will feature jazz from the late '50s, but for now you simply cannot go wrong with this opening statement. A must-have!

VA - Good God! Born Again Funk

There goes God again, inspiring The Numero Group to put out a second-coming sequel to their Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal comp from a few years back and providing a nice counterpoint to last year’s magnificently ragged and primal Fire In My Bones triple-disc set on the Tomkins Square imprint. Much of the material here comes from Chicago, a city better known for electrifying blues musicians whose original wellspring was the Mississippi Delta. The city had a similar effect on the gospel strains of the south as they headed north, and, while retaining their down-home grit, went through floor-shaking changes. Once again, Numero have done a bang-up job of unearthing rare indie label obscurities, this being one of their best collections in a while.  The top cut here is opener “Like a Ship” by T.L. Barrett & The Youth For Christ Choir—listen to it loud for the sound of Kingdom Come, the largest sounding choir I have ever heard, reverb-ed beyond belief, and the best recorded proof of angels in recent memory, all on a hot-buttered soul groove! 

GEORGE JACKSON - George Jackson In Memphis 1972-77

A talented southern soul songwriter, George Jackson hit paydirt when his “One Bad Apple” was turned down as a single by the Jackson 5 but turned into a monster hit for The Osmonds. His own material had little in common with that high-energy pop confection; instead, Jackson’s classic period, captured here, is pure laidback Memphis, perfectly suited for the Hi label (for whom he recorded), as well as other imprints.  The beauty of his work lies in his understated vocal style, like Donny Hathaway without the histrionics. The easy grooves also recall Bobby Womack, especially given that both appreciated the Carpenters enough to deliver unexpected yet inspired covers (Womack did “Close to You”, while Jackson gorgeously revamps “We’ve Only Just Begun”). But it was the strength of his own songwriting that lured singers like James Carr, Clarence Carter, Candi Staton, and Ike Turner to Jackson's craft. 

BILL FOX - Shelter From The Smoke

Add another name to the should’ve-been-someone file. Bill Fox has a spiritual forefather in Emitt Rhodes: both were blessed with extraordinary talents as tunesmiths,  yet cursed with cruel indifference from the record-buying public and relegated to cult status. But while Rhodes did enjoy some level of fame in his early days and is experiencing renewed interest thanks to patronage from the likes of Jeff Tweedy and Wes Anderson and the reissue collecting his 4 solo albums released last year, Fox never even had that one regional hit and reportedly is so disgusted by the business that he no longer owns a guitar.

On first listen his voice (both vocally and artistically) jumps out at you, so steeped is his craft in its influences. Some would say Dylan and the Byrds, and yes, “I’m Not Over Loving You” is largely derivative of “Mr. Spaceman” or “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”, but for me he’s a power-pop version of acoustic-period Rod Stewart, and a model for Andy Cabic’s more recent work in Vetiver. Of course, there’s also a strong pull towards the aforementioned Rhodes, along with early Wilco and even the work of late-'60s songwriter Elyse [Weinberg].

Fox's often harmony-laden pop masterpieces are kept down to earth due to a strong Americana influence. Amazingly, for all of the depth of his recordings, you’ll barely notice that most of the 23 songs here are recorded with only one or two acoustic guitars accompanying his lead vocal and occasional harmony. The few full-band recordings are rough-hewn, quite literally “garagey” and so damned exhilarating in their intent that you forgive the shortcomings in fidelity.

Amazingly, what sounds like a overview of a lost songwriter from the '70s or early '80s comes from a Cleveland artist in 1998. Maybe if he can be coaxed into resuming his career (if you could call it one), history can make amends, but for now enjoy this reissue, my clear favourite of this new year. 

BLO - Chapter And Phases: The Complete Albums 1973-1975

A few years back, you would be forgiven for believing that BLO’s only song worth hearing was “Chant to Mother Earth”, a psychedelic dirge-waltz that, for a while, seemed to be comped every few months. Nothing else was available aside from expensive imports that I avoided because, once again, I thought they were only worth the one song. Far from it. These guys, who once toured with Ginger Baker, synthesized jammy fuzz-rock with their Nigerian roots in a way that few African bands did as well. In this context, it makes sense that Rev-Ola, purveyors of obscure pop and psych from the '60s, would put this out instead of the usual suspects from the super-hot Afro reissue scene. It’s been a long time coming, so get this one while it lasts. 

FAMOUS L. RENFROE AS THE FLYING SWEET ANGEL OF JOY - Children

An enigmatic release from an obscure artist named “Famous”? Well, the oddities don’t end there. Not much is known about Renfroe. We do know, though, that he recorded this record sometime around 1968 and that he self-produced this delicious slab of outsider R&B, playing most of the instruments himself except for drums. Not that this is a Numero-styled lo-fi soul release; no, this is highly esoteric soul, with just enough wrong to make Children a highly compelling listen without going off the deep end of weird and making the black American equivalent of a Shaggs album. Mind you, “His Love” rivals The Prodigals’ “Judy” as one of the most unintentionally out-of-tune basslines in soul history, but listen to that song with the bass turned down low and it’s hard to deny the pure passion in his performance. This is one for fans of late-'50s Specialty Records sides, boogie-woogie and rough guitar-led gospel. 

ERMA FRANKLIN - Piece Of Her Heart: The Epic & Shout Years

While it would be tough to beat the depth of Aretha Franklin’s vocal profundity, her sister Erma scores for the oceanic breadth so few other soul artists of her time were capable of. The late Erma, Aretha’s oldest sister (Carolyn was no slouch, either), is best known for the original and definitive version (sorry Janis, though I love yours, too) of “Another Piece of My Heart”. To deny her further attention would not give justice to this versatile vocalist, who was capable of laying down pure mid-'60s soul music, harder-edged funk, as well as a surprisingly sweet sophistication that both Ettas (James and Jones) also shared. This collection takes a broad survey of a singer who, overshadowed by her insuperable sibling, could not keep the momentum of her one great hit, despite a rich career of excellent vocal performances. 

VA - Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel 1944-2007

Compared to other forms of music captured in field recordings, there’s something about gospel that needs to be recorded in its natural setting, in God’s home, far away from the sterile confines of recording studios. One could argue that gospel music simply should not be recorded any other way but live, in its natural environment. Anyone who needs further convincing should check The Emotions singing “Peace Be Still” on the classic Wattstax doc, Alan Lomax’s documentation of church services, or better yet, dig into this astounding 3-disc collection of black American gospel before televangelism totally perverted the form. Though not all recorded in the field, the sheer force of these performances make early recordings by Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers, and Mahalia Jackson seem a little mild-mannered. In fact, many of these performances are truer to the rock’n’roll spirit than much of the formulaic end of the blues that, so the cliché goes, spawned rock music. I can’t recommend this enough!

VA - Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81

In the seven years since Soundway put out their first comp, they've become arguably the finest reissue purveyor of floor-shaking grooves from Nigeria, Panama, Colombia and, most recently, Guadeloupe & Martinique (on last month's sublime Tumbele set). By focusing on hard grooves from the '60s and '70s, they've helped move tastes away from the slick “worldbeat” production values that dominated the market in the '80s and '90s. Ghana Special is a return home of sorts, and a follow-up to the remarkable Ghana Soundz collection from 2002 that started it all for the label. The heavy funk heard on that disc must have made many a DJ in the rare groove scene want to trade in their jazz-funk records for these records that were more than convincingly “funky”, and indeed many did pursue this route. Since then, Soundway boss Miles Cleret has toned down the overt funk influence and has shown that his preferences have matured, though not at the expense of the dancefloor–far from it, in fact. The two discs here show a diversity that the Nigerian deluge of last year, great as it was, could not match. In fact, there are so many fantastic tracks here, I’ll be digging into this for a long time to come. One of the top African collections of 2009.

J.J. JACKSON - The Great J.J. Jackson

Time to testify to another outstanding lost Sixties soul man who's now been found, or should I say redisc-overed, after having been forgotten by all but those diehard lovers and collectors of the genre. J.J. Jackson and The Greatest Little Soul Band in the Land had one mid-sized hit in 1966, the propulsive dancefloor shaker "But It's Alright". Their sole (no pun intended) album was a match for whatever material legends like Wilson Pickett or Sam and Dave were putting out, but Jackson never achieved the fame or commercial success of these rhythm 'n' bruisers. Pity, 'cause this ravin' reissue contains one humdinger of a number after another: "I Dig Girls", the exciting "Boogaloo Baby", the Robbie Robertson composition "The Stones That I Throw", and "Come See Me", which British proto-punk r'n'b beat group The Pretty Things ferociously amped up on their 1966 cover. The emotion Jackson wrings out of his version of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" is almost as equally heartfelt as the original. Get this and get down!!

VA - Dirty French Psychedelics

This is not the 'official' psychedelic sound, but rather a sound that has been overlooked by revivals from the '60s to the '80s, ignored for lacking easy categorization. In 1970s France, moody orchestrations by Jean-Claude Vannier for the epochal Melody Nelson session with Serge Gainsbourg (as well as the less-acknowledged but artistically equal Brigitte Fontaine Est...) combined with the clash of exotic folk and cosmic jazz on the Saravah label to create an atmospheric and far-reaching sound that embraced open-mindedness, come-down grooviness, and the pristine (but definitely not smooth) production techniques of the time. It is a sound that's a purple haze without being “Purple Haze”, if you get my drift. Paris' Dirty Sound System have defined an amorphous genre, a rare thing in the compilations market, and have done it with a flow that betrays some serious mixtape obsession. A creepy and ominous mood is created by soundtrack greats François de Roubaix and Karl Heinz Schäfer, plus freaky pioneers Brigitte Fontaine and Dashiell Hedayat, along with many more.

VA - Tumbele!: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean 1963-1973

From the moment we first threw this one on we knew that we had a winner, a sentiment confirmed by the steady line of customers asking about this disc. Soundway is one of our favourite reissue labels, leading the pack with the best African comps of the last few years, plus popular collections of Panamanian and Colombian music. This time they’ve switched focus to the music of Guadeloupe and Martinique, a highly unlikely source but one that has proven irresistible on the dancefloors of the rising “tropical funk” movement spearheaded by Miles Cleret (the man behind the Soundway label), Quantic's Will Holland, and Toronto’s own Symon Warwick, whose regular Turning Point dance parties are always a reliably steamy night out. The selections here are some of the most infectious grooves you’ll hear all year, combining calypso melodicism, latin rhythms, afro-charged horns and percussion, and New Orleans jazz. It’s a delicious mix of influences that will have you dancing in your kitchen for months.

(UPDATE: Soundway's Miles Cleret will in fact be guest DJing at the next Turning Point dance party, Sat. Nov 7 at the Gladstone Ballroom!)  

THE FEELIES - Crazy Rhythms

Crazy Rhythms is a seminal record that provided one of the earliest blueprints for the next 30 years in the development of “indie”. The Feelies were from New Jersey, and shared a strong affinity with the Velvets, Talking Heads, and Television (with whom they shared a dual lead guitar set-up), but their collective instrumental twitchiness pointed in a different direction from their New York forebears. In some ways, they had more in common with New Zealand’s The Clean, another key early indie band that didn’t fit into the main subcultures that emerged out of punk (post-punk, new wave, etc.). You can hear echoes of their sound in The Wedding Present (whose frenetic strum is all over this record, most distinctly on the cover version of “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey”), Yo La Tengo, The Smiths, The Vaselines, and even Stereolab (check out drone rocker “Forces at Work”, with only one chord change in its 7 minutes). As with the band's recently reissued follow-up (1986's The Good Earth), the original track listing is preserved; bonus tracks, which include demos and live reunion recordings from earlier this year, are available on a download card. 

VA - Where The Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968

Dateline Hollywood, 1966: Miles away from the movie studios and Beverly Hills mansions, the Sunset Strip is throbbing with clubs and kids catching some of the best bands the U.S. of A. had to offer. The Byrds, The Standells, Love, The Seeds: the list can go on ad infinitum. In this reviewer's not-so-humble opinion, Los Angeles had the most vibrant music scene in the world, second only to London, England. The legendary Rhino label has now seen fit to pay ample tribute to the fantastic—and occasionally mind-bending—vitality and variety of L.A.'s pop-rock talent on its latest installment of the Nuggets box set series. Its four CDs and 101 tracks provide an essential overview of everything from the first folk-rock groups to the studio geniuses (Brian Wilson, Gary Usher, Jan Berry) by way of the snotty suburban garage combos.

Everyone who was anyone (and even some deserving nobodies) are here, including The Turtles, The Leaves, early Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Buffalo Springfield, and Ricky Nelson (on acid!). The accompanying book comes complete with beautiful photos and detailed descriptions of L.A. clubs and the all-important radio stations which broadcast the new and innovative folk-rock, garage, psych, and sunshine pop sounds emanating from smoggy "Boss" Angeles. A terrific and timeless slice of pop music history, Where The Action Is! is definitely not a case of "I guess you had to be there"; with this wonderful box set, you ARE there.

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS - Hungry For Kicks: Singles & Choice Cuts 1965-69

Strangely enough, one of the greatest American rock'n'roll groups of the '60s is also among the most underrated. Paul Revere & The Raiders racked up several Top 20 hits from 1965 to '69 and also hosted a daily TV music show on which they performed comedy routines while wearing matching Revolutionary War uniforms. Not exactly the kinds of things that endeared them to the growing hippie counterculture, which accounts for the fact that despite their brilliant singles, they were eventually perceived as little more than a bubblegum joke. This compilation fortunately sets the record straight, combining their raucous garage singles with sizzling slightly-delic album cuts. Graced with an outstanding lead singer, Mark Lindsay, The Raiders deserve to be at least near the pantheon of the era's bands, alongside The Beach Boys, Lovin' Spoonful, and Byrds (with whom they shared producer Terry Melcher).